Scallop eviscerator



Nov. 17, 1964 J. A. POLITO 3,156,948

SCALLOP EVISCERATOR Filed March e, 1961 United States Patent O 3,156,948 SCALLGP EVlSCERATR oseph A.. Poiito, Maywood, Ill., assigner to Continental Seafood Corporation, Chicago, ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 6, 196i, Ser. No. 93,406 3 Claims. (Cl. 17--4':3)

This invention relates to an apparatus and a process for scallop evisceration, and more particularly, to an apparatus and process for mechanically separating the viscera from the meat of a shucked scallop.

Scallops are marine mollusks, as are oysters and clams. They consist of three major parts: two shells or valves; viscera (sometimes called the rim); and a single large adductor muscle (also called ythe meat or eye of the scallop), w ich is the edible part of the scallop, marketed for consumption in the United States.

Scallops have heretofore been cleaned and prepared for marketing by hand-shucking techniques. @ne such technique comprises opening the scallop from the back at the hinge of the two valves with a knife or similar instrument, inserting the knife between the meat and one valve so that the viscera is pinched to the inner surface of that valve, and separating the valves. The separation of the valves will pull the viscera away from the meat, leaving the meat attached to the second valve from which it may be easily cut. This process of separating the meat of the scallop from the viscera is beset with several drawbacks. For example, it is a slow process and is thus impractical for cleaning certain smaller species of scallops, such as calico scallops, which provide only four to five pints of meat per bushel of shell stock. Moreover, in such species of scallops as calico scallops, there is greater exterior curvature of the valves and thus greater interior concavity, making it diiiicult to cut the muscle from the valves without at least some meat loss, such loss being as high as 20 percent in some instances. Because of the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art processes, calico scallops and the like are not to any great extent marketed in the United States, notwithstanding that they are plentiful and quite palatable.

Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide an apparatus and process for economically eviscerating scallop meat for commercial use and sale with a negligible amount of waste.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus arid process for economically eviscerating and making commercially feasible low yielding and structurally peculiar scallops, such as calico scallops.

Further and additional objects will be apparent the drawings, description, and claims.

The present invention contemplates that the preparation for marketing of scallop meat will comprise two distinct operations: (l) shucking the scallop; that is to say, separating the shells or valves from the tissue, and (2) eviscerating the scallop tissue; namely, separating the viscera from the meat or muscle. The first step may be carried out by any conventional means presently used, for example, for shocking oysters or clams, and no particular shucking process forms a part of the present invention. The apparatus and particular process steps of this invention relate solely lto separating the viscera from the muscle of the scallop tissue after the tissue has been removed from the shells.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises, generally, a supporting member having an axial restricted passageway formed therein which is adapted to receive scallop meat with attached viscera after the meat and viscera have been removed from the valves. The meat is disposed in the supporting member intermediate its ends, and fluid is introduced into the passageway. The fluid from ICC

exerts pressure on one end of the meat and forces it through the restricted passageway, causing the meat to separate from the viscera in the direction of the other end of the meat. rl'he supporting member is generally constructed of a resilient or elastic material such as rubber on an elastomer so asto prevent damage to the scallop meat and to permit adjustment of the member for various sized scallop meats. It may be brought into frictional engagement with the meatcontained therein by the application of an axial force thereon which causes the passageway in the supponting element to contract. The iuid used to exert pressure on the scallop meat is `preferably water, since among other things, it is both economical Ito use and will not contaminate the meat.

Drawings have been provided to facilitate understanding of the invention as follows:

FlG. 1 shows a scallop after the shell or valves have been separated but prior to the removal of the adductor muscle and viscera from the valves.

FG. 2 shows scallop tissue after it has been removed from the valves, but prior to the separation of the viscera from the muscle.

FIG. 3 shows the muscle or meat of a scallop after it has been removed from the valves and the viscera.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of PEG. 4 t en along line .f5- 5 thereof and shows a scallop therein prior to` its being eviscerated.

FIG. 6 is a modification of the embodiment of FiG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional View taken along line 7--7 of FG. 6.

Referring new to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 t0 3, it can be seen that a scallop has been provided in various stages of dissection. FIG. l shows a whole scallop after it has been opened. lt comprises two valves, l1 and 13, the muscle or the meat l5, and the viscera 17. FIG. 2 shows the muscle 15 with the viscera 17 attached thereto after they have been removed from the valves 11 and 13 of the scallop shown in FIG. l. As can be seen from this drawing, the viscera i7' is attached to the meat 15 intermediate the ends, lSa and 15b, thereof, the ends of the meat l5 being free of viscera. Muscle 15 is shown in FIG. 3 in its marketable form after it has been removed from the valves il and l and from the viscera 17.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4 and 5, which show one embodiment of the apparatus of this invention. The eviscerator 1t) comprises a substantially cylindrical unit 12 which houses a resilient supporting member M provided with an axial passageway lo for receiving scallop tissue or product 26. The passageway 16 has a substantially cylindrical coniiguration with a restricted portion 16a and conic surfaces lb therein. The conic surfaces aid in separating the viscera from the meat, and also help guide the product into the restricted orice with one of the ends of the meat as the leading surface, so that less care is required in the placement of the scallop product in the eviscerator. Where desired, however, a configuration other than conical may be formed in the passageway 16 to perform the same function as the latter.

An annular metal washer 13 is provided coincident to the supporting member 14 and immediately adjacent thereto. Pressure member Ztl is threadably connected to unit 12 by screw threads 22 provided in the latter unit, and has a rigid annular surface 20a which may be brought to bear on one surface 18a of washer 18. By tightening member 20, pressure is exerted against the washer surface 18a and this pressure is transmitted to supporting member 14 in the form of an axial force. The passageway 16 in member le thereby contracts and grips the scallop meat and viscera disposed therein, intermediate 3 the ends of the meat. Liquid or iuid inlet 24, which may be a metal pipe, rubber tube or the like, and which is connected to member 2i), injects uid through member Ztl and the annulus of the surface 20a thereof and into the passageway i6 of supporting member 14. The luid ap-v plies pressure to one 'end 26C of the meat 26a of the scallop product 26 forcing the latter through passageway 16 in the direction of the other end 26d of the meat.. The product 26, with end 26d as the leading edge, is guided by conic surfaces lbjinto the restricted oriiice 16a. TheA viscera 26]? will adhere to the walls of the passageway 16 and thereby separate from the meat 26a. Both the meat and viscera will ultimately be discharged from the eviscerator, the rneat preceding the viscera. The fluid preferably used in the illustrated embodiment is water.

FIG. 6 shows a modiiication 28 of the embodiment or" FIG. 4. In this embodiment it will be seen that pres` sure member Sil, although it performs the same function as pressure member Ztl of the apparatus of FIG. 4, operates similar to a piston. Pressure member .36 slidably engages substantially cylindrical housing 32 and Vhas a rigid annular surface 34. By actuating member 39,

the surface 34 thereof may be brought to bear on resilient supporting member 36 and to exert pressure against the surface 38 of the latter member 56. Member 30 may be actuated in many conventional ways. For example, a mechanical linkage may be employed to move piston 3i) downwardly against resilient member 36, or the same fluid pressure which forces the scallop product through the eviscerator may be employed to iirst actuate the piston Sil. Similar to the supporting member 14 of the embodiment of FlG. 5, member 36 has an axial passageway 40 formed therein for receiving the uneviscerated scallop meat, The application of pressure on member 36 will cause the passageway 40 to contract and to frictionally engage the product therein. Water or other iiuid is then introduced into eviscerator 23 through fluid inlet 42, forcing the scallop meat through the passageway 4@ and restricted orifice 4tlg., thereby effecting separation of the meat from the viscera in the same manner as when the apparatus of FIG. is employed.

FiG. 6 also showsV the use of scraping means 44 located in the restrictedV orifice 40a of passageway 40 of supporting member 36. The scraping means 44 in the present embodiment comprise small resilient protuberances or ingers 46, best shown in FIG. 7. They may be formed from `the same material used to construct the supporting member, namely, rubber or other elastomeric or resilient substances. The protuberances 46 engage the viscera as the scallop meat is forced through the orifice 40a and aid in the separation of the viscera from the scallop meat.

The disclosed embodiments are only for illustrative purposes, and Vmany variations will immediately appear to the artisan. .In commercial production, for example, the instant invention would be incorporated into an automatic or semiautomatic machine which would facilitate the timed insertion of the scallop product, the closure of the eviscerator, and the application of iiuid pressure.

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is contemplated, therefore, b'y the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim: Y

1. The process of cleaning scallop meat having viscera attached to it intermediate its ends, which ends were attached to the scallop valves, said process comprising supporting said meat and attached viscera in a resilient member having an axial restricted passageway therein adapted to receive said meat and viscera, applying axial pressure to said resilient member to bringit in frictional engagement with the meat and viscera intermediate the ends of the meat, introducing fluid into said passageway to apply pressure to one end of said meat and to force said meat through said passageway in the direction of the other end of said meat whereby said meat is separated from the viscera.

2. The process of claim l wherein said iluid is a liquid.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein said fluid is water.

4. The process of cleaning scallop meat having viscera attached to it intermediate its ends, which ends were attached to the scallop valves, said process comprising supporting said meat and attached viscera in a resilient member having an axial restricted passageway therein adapted to receive said meat and viscera, guiding said meat and viscera into the mouth of a restricted orifice in said passageway, applying axial pressure to said 'resilient member to bring it in frictional engagement with the meat and viscera intermediate the ends of the meat, introduc- VVing iiuid into said passageway to apply pressure to one end of said meat and force said meat through said restricted orifice in the direction of the other end of said meat whereby said meat is separated from the viscera.

5. The process of cleaning scallop meat having Vviscera attached thereto intermediate the ends of the meat, said process comprising frictionally engaging and supporting said meat and attached viscera and applying fluid pressure directly to one end of said meat while frictionally engaged whereby said meat is separated from said viscera in the direction of the other end of said meat.

6. The process of cleaning scallop meat having viscera attached thereto intermediate the ends of the meat, said process comprising frictionally engaging and supporting said meat and attached viscera, applying fluid pressure directly to one end of said meat while frictionally engaged whereby said meat is separated from said viscera in the direction of the other end of said meat, and engaging the viscera as the meat is being separated therefrom to retard movement of the viscera and further aid the separation thereof.

7. The process of claim 5 wherein said fluid pressure is liquid pressure.

8. The process of claim 5 wherein said iiuid pressure is water pressure. 

5. THE PROCESS OF CLEANING SCALLOP MEAT HAVING VISCERA ATTACHED THERETO INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE MEAT, SAID PROCESS COMPRISING FRICTIONALLY ENGAGING AND SUPPORTING SAID MEAT AND ATTACHED VISCERA AND APPLYING FLUID PRESSURE DIRECTLY TO ONE END OF SAID MEAT WHILE FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED WHEREBY SAID MEAT IS SEPARATED FROM SAID VISCERA IN THE DIRECTION OF THE OTHER END OF SAID MEAT. 